/gurpsgen/ GURPS general

Where is the thread? edition.

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New GM here.
Do you think that Gurps-lite is enough to run a 3-4 sessions max game where differents universes mash together ? Like knights with rifles or magic-using robots.
I doubt it can really be balanced but I'm asking anyway, having no experience with GURPS (but heavily interested).
Sorry for my english

GURPS is great for that kind of thing where you mix genres. The only thing you should be aware of is that equipment is the great leveller. Guns are damn deadly, and if you want to mix futuristic guns and swords then the people with swords will have a bad time.

GURPS Lite IIRC does NOT have magic as well. But you can potentially read the magic chapter in the basic set.

Dead system dead thread

No it is useless as it is just heavy castrated GURPS and you can't do anything besides some dull and flavourless knight or cop or anybody. As for using uncut game you actually need to spend much more time to prepare game and creating characters, than you can get fun from 3-4 sessions. And GURPS also really sucks at one-shots (If you don't like MTPs).
GURPS work somehow not afully bad at long marathons, because it is overcumbered with too much mechanics, and 2/3 of initial preptime you just cherrypick for what you need for your game and with wrong picks you can easily fuck up game and have no fun and your players will run around with asses on fire and blaming about how GURPS bad is.

>Where is the thread?
Exactly my question

I'm using GURPS Lite for past 3 years. Never felt like fully moving to Basic set, despite using a lot of things from different suplements.

I can't found it in action 2, so asking you: i've saw somewhere in GURPS sub-module about collecting "Clues" from complementary contests, and then using them as rerolls on failed rolls in main course of mission.
And after fast check it's not same as ACT in Actions 2.

Seriously, what's wrong with GURPS General today?

it's monday and we're not /5eg/ neets

>it's monday and we're not /5eg/ neets

I browse at work :|

What the hell? The old thread isn't even in the archive. Last week's general is in there, but the one from last night was deleted.

how do you guys usually handle skill defaults in-play, when something comes up that you don't expect? I don't like stopping to look it up if I can avoid it.

I just give an assessment if it seems likely you can default, from -2 to -6. If the players want to check it up, for any reason, they can, and can suggest that we use the official rules instead.

Roll and shout. If you can't remember the defaults, and someone mentions a skill that *probably* could sub for the other, say it's a -2, and if it *might* cover for it, say it's -4.

Or whatever you think is reasonable, you are the gm.

If anyone complains because they memorized the book, say "situational modifiers," and leave it at that.

From the Action issue of Pyramid.

I don't think last night's was intended to be the general. It didn't advertise as one and the OP was an image, not the PDF. I think they deleted it once they realized it was confusing people.

What he said; roll and shout, then afterwards sort it out

I mean, sure, if you know the page or have it open roll that shit, but otherwise I'm gonna ask for a roll versus 9 or less

So Dungeon Fantasy wizards aren't very good at blasting.. what SHOULD I be doing in combat? Buffing people? Trying to do map control? Debuffs?

You again.

Show us on the picture where the bad GM touched you.

He's not wrong about GURPS Lite missing rules necessary for play, chief. GURPS Lite needs, at a minimum, to add Reach back to melee weapons, include deceptive attacks, include rules for shooting multiple times, some form of grappling, and some form of magic to be considered Generic or Universal or be able to even play most games.

Easy is -4, Average is -5, Hard it -6. If I can't remember what the skill they're defaulting to is, on average it's Average. I had a rules lawyer that would look things up and try to argue. Situational modifiers cover that case nicely and prevent further argument.

So it's a dollfie or a chick looking like one?

It's an elf, obviously.

No. He's not. I'm not a big fan of Lite. It's a great example of one of the very early rush job books. That's really not the complaint he has though.

>It's useless.
Which is absolutely not true. I and many others have used it to good effect. Some have done so exclusively and for years.

>Can't do anything besides some dull and flavorless
It has Advantages and Disadvantages as well as enough about quirks for someone with an imagination. So this point isn't true either.

>Prep time.
This is also bullshit. Character creation doesn't take any longer than any version of D&D I've played (all of them except 5e). Or just about any other game not designed as a rules light narrative style game. Even some of those take quite a bit of time.

>Sucks at one-shots.
More bullshit. I run one-shots all the time (at least once every other month).

The rest is just more whiny bullshit in the same tone.

This is the GURPS general not the Shit On GURPS general. If he wants to start one of those he's welcome to and I'll happily put my gripes there. That's not what this general is for. And he's not willing to be helpful in this one. He's a troll and barely worth of pity.

If his views and complaints had the barest hint of truth to them or he was interested in finding workarounds or solutions he'd get tons of advice and help up to and including to try another game that suits his style. Instead he just wants to piss and moan and turn off new people while trying to kill the general or fill it with shit. Pathetic.

I'd call it pretty useless if it includes guns without telling you how to shoot a nigga twice and it includes melee combat without telling you how to get close and stab someone beyond "GM decides." That castrates any modern ranged combat and makes melee a magical tea party. Oh, and a lack of an explanation on TDMs. Of course, it isn't meant to be used by new GMs, and says as much on the first page. I think that's fucking stupid, but SJGames isn't keen on making too many smart decisions.

The rest is bullshit, but Lite has serious issues that keep it from being useful.

You can call it a zucchini if you like. You find it useless and that's fine. Don't use it. Others find it useful.

>it includes guns without telling you how to shoot a nigga twice
Except it does. Pic related.

>and it includes melee combat without telling you how to get close and stab someone beyond
Except it does. Last paragraph of p. 26.
>Your target must be within reach if you're making a melee attack.

Granted reach is never explained and the box that says "see the table below for the reach" doesn't have it listed.

The booklet does have its problems, lots of problems, mostly to do with copy/paste and shit editing. It isn't up to the normal SJG standards by any stretch. But, it is also at least as good as many, many other game books that other companies charge money for. So in that way you get more than you paid for.

It can also be used to successfully run games with and do so without change or referring to other books. Many have over the years.

>Except it does. Pic related.
It doesn't tell you how. It just says that you can.

>Granted reach is never explained and the box that says "see the table below for the reach" doesn't have it listed.
So, yeah, doesn't give rules for either of the things I brought up, in addition to the myriad other issues Lite has as an introduction to GURPS, for both players and GMs.

>It can also be used to successfully run games with and do so without change or referring to other books. Many have over the years.
Yeah, I also really enjoy houseruling basic interactions with the system because the line editor didn't think to include them.

>It doesn't tell you how. It just says that you can.
And nobody ever told you how to reach your keyboard to make a reply yet you figured that out.

The early books (Lite included) didn't get the attention they should have. That is without dispute. Since that really bugs you stay away from them. Stick to Action, After the End, Dungeon Fantasy, or Monster Hunters. They got more attention and hold your hand more. A dozen years of the sort of "feedback" you're giving led to them.

Or is the point to be pedantic, obtuse, and overly critical?

>it has issues
>no, it doesn't
>yes, it does, see x, y and z
>why are you so pedantic ;_;

What is pedantic, obtuse, or overly critical about stating the facts? Lite does not tell you how to shoot up to your RoF, and it does not define what reach means. These are both critical components that are required to function as a game wherein which people shoot other people and/or stab other people with various stabbing implements. This is in addition to every other problem Lite has that seriously gimps its usefulness to the people that actually matter for a game's growth, GMs, and its ability to be used as a reference by players.

Lite is a bad product that fails at both its stated goal and the goal I prefer it set out to do. It may be up to the standard of other RPG companies, but other RPG companies are shit. It is in serious need of an overhaul.

What kind of damage is a large shield with spikes?

Read somewhere in the sjg forums that it´s thr+1 but I can´t find a source. Also, would it do piercing dmg? That´s what spiked traps do.

B273.

Oh, shit. Thanks

More like this:
>it has issues
>those aren't them
>these are
Take your strawman elsewhere.

It's not about stating the facts it's about how. The word "when" isn't defined either does that mean any sentence using that word hinder the ability for someone to use Lite?

>does not tell you how to shoot up to your RoF.
It does. And it further says you don't have to. In the context of the full GURPS rules we know there is something missing. Using Lite alone up to RoF shots get fired. A success means hits. Yay! effectively triple damage over GURPS Basic. I agree it's bullshit and a single paragraph would have fixed it but that's Lite as written. It's disingenuous to say it can't be figured out.

A more suitable complaint would be the end of the RoF paragraph that is a straight copy/paste screwup:
>special notes apply:
>we can't be bothered to swap the colon for a period or copy/paste the special notes.

>It is in serious need of an overhaul.
I couldn't agree more.

You can try to infer what it means, but it isn't stated. Some people will say you roll damage equal to the number of shots. Others might say you have to roll for each bullet. Some might do the former if the bullets are on the same target and the latter if you target two people. There are a variety of answers you can give, and absolutely none of them are correct, because GURPS divides MoS by Rcl, round down to find total number of hits. So Lite not only doesn't explain how to do it, it leads people rules that are incongruent with Basic Set, which is a completely unnecessary stumbling block.

You're right. It's part of why it needs a serious overhaul.

You're wrong that none of them are correct though. Perhaps none of them are correct in a completely difference context. In the context of Lite you hit with the fired shots as far as I can tell. You aren't arguing that 3e and 4e rules don't agree are you? In this way Lite does fail as it only implies the above by stating:
>all the fundamental rules, but not the options and embellishments.

It is also explicitly for "Experienced Game Masters." Which, I agree, is dumb because it is often used as a simplified introduction to GURPS. A role it only performs marginally well.

Lite is usable. That is indisputable. Is it ideal? No. Not by a long stretch. Is it complete? Not by any margin. Is it valuable? You say no, I say yes. Is it as valuable as it could or should be? It's pretty clear that we agree it isn't.

It really does need to be replaced. Maybe you are the right person for the job. Write it up and submit it.

Will do.

Awesome. I'll be happy to help in any way I can.

I'd appreciate someone taking the time to rip all of the rules text from Lite and unfucking the PDF formatting. That'll save me a lot of hassle and I can get to the important parts. Throw it up on a pastebin if you feel like it's something you wanna do thirty-two pages of.

Outside of that, it's fine-tooth comb review for bad editing/copypasting (finding and referencing by page would be great), including some rules and such from Basic Set (making a to-do list is a good idea here), and updating tables. And possibly learning how the hell the SJGames template works if I don't just do it all in libre and post the PDF here myself.

Oh, and a few months to do it all since my life is fucking busy right now, but that shouldn't stop me.

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The pdf formatting is *mostly* unfucked. Except for tables. Tables are all fucked up but you want to reformat them in your own layout anyway so that shouldn't be a problem.

I set it to expire in a week so grab it before then. If I fucked up the links or the copy/paste tell me and I'll post corrections.

Saved them, gave the first one a quick skim. Looks good to me so far. Surprised you got it done that fast. Can't stick around to give them a proper review, will see about it later.

And, like I said earlier, if you want to go over and write down where editing suffers/copypasting occurs, that would also speed things up quite a bit.

Gotta love shell scripting.

I think an outline for a new document and summarizing instead of plagiarizing (which was how Lite was fucked up to begin with) Basic would work better but I'll see what I can come up with in between work panics. It's your project so it's your way. Please take the above as advice instead of criticism.

Right now the vague idea in my head is cannibalizing what's salvageable from Lite and mixing it with bits and pieces of Basic Set. Outline will require much discussion as to what to include and what to cut. Hopefully I can come back to discussion on it instead of a dead thread/80gunsposting.

I'm the user that suggested the Lite revision get done. Here's my initial New-Lite outline suggestion:

>I. Rules: Introduction, Modifiers, Success Rolls (Effective Skill, Margin, Crit), Contests (Quick, Resistance, Regular), Reaction Rolls, Damage Rolls, Character Points, Attributes (Basic, Secondary, Derived), Traits (Advantages, Disadvantages, Perks, Quirks, MAYBE Enhancements & Limitations), Skills (Everyman List, Templates, Complementary)
>II. Capabilities: Physical (Climbing, Lifting, Throwing, Jumping, Running, Hiking, Swimming), Mental (Perceiving, Resisting)
>III. Combat: Moving, Attacking, Defending
>IV. Hazards & Healing: Damage & DR, Healing (Healing, Recovery, & Rest), Hazards (Afflictions & Conditions, Cold & Heat, Collisions & Falls, Disease & Poison, Suffocation
>V. GMing: TBD.

Each roman numeral is a chapter. Items in the following list are headings. Parenthetical items are sections under the heading.

Advantages, Disadvantages, and Skills don't get lists. Those live in appendices with suggestions for how to pare the list down for different genres or styles.

Skills may be limited just to Wildcards instead to avoid the overwhelming fuck-ton of a list.

I would include a handful of regular skills just so they get an idea. Maybe an example of hard, average, easy etc...

In appendices. Maybe one in example-like box with arrows pointing to what each bit of the format is. Skills are really hugely campaign and TL specific they should really be called out more than anything else as optional and in need of GM attention. Preferably with premade GM suggestion lists.

I'm a new gurps GM and so are my players. Would it help them if I prepared ~50 points of skills/advantages into packages to help players make their character in a 200 point game? Like if they wanted to be a spy for example they could roll their own or choose a package that had foreign languages,reasonable IQ,rank,an agency patron & basic firearms handling?

(the idea is that it wouldn't use all of their points but rather give them a baseline then leave a bit of room for customization past that)

Yes! Templates and Lenses are one of the coolest additions in the 4th edition. Motivational Lenses from Monster Hunters kick the idea up a notch too.

That's a good idea. GURPS kinda does this already, with Templates. Templates are covered on page 258 of the Basic Set that provides a lot of data on how to make templates and how to use them.

It's a good idea, have fun.

To add my few words:
Are you giving them 200 points, because you want them to be really powerful, or you are afraid otherwise they might be unable to make their characters and thus simply gave them more points?

the latter really. I was thinking they'd be around the power level of the main cast of black lagoon if that means anything. Basically people with action movie protagonist powers

GURPS essentially does this in Action 4. You start with a general "action hero" 100-point template then slap on a number of 25-point skill sets like Tough Guy, Infiltrator, or Urban Assault.

Check Action 4 for some lens ideas. See what advantages, perks, skills, and techniques they include.

If I wanted to make an enemy who has really high DR on the back, but a weak belly (like an insect or tortoise), would it just be regular grappling to flip them over? If you did a slam or shove, would that knock them on their back too?

I'm looking for the pyramid issue about a doctors without borders campaign. I've not been able to find it via discord. Does anyone know?

I've done something similar with templates, doing a Mount and Blade style character gen, where people selected homeland, and upbringing. It works really well, and cuts down on the sudden shock of being given 200 points and three 300 page books.

Googling around, are you thinking about MSF being a sample organization in Boardroom and Curia?

I seem to remember there being an article around playing as those guys. I could be wrong. I'm going to be pitching a campaign about a far future !Red cross in a wartorn shit future. But I kinda need ideas for how to run such a game.

Thanks.
It was it ("I’ve got a great idea"), but it actually happen to be was "Retroactive Planning" from Gamingballistic.

You can also check "Red Swords" from 3-53, and "The Mercy Dolls" from 3-90.

Red Swords were just what I needed, thanks! Gonna check mercy dolls later.

I sprinkled some pixie dust, lorem ipsum, and years of distilled technical writing experience on the outline I posted above and, without lists, it comes in at about 16 pages.

What else should be included in a bare-bones Lite to round it out and make it more useful?

Can someone explain me something?
Why we are having a discussion how to EXPAND Lite? The whole fucking idea of Lite it being lite. Not blowing it up to make it bigger or more detailed, but keeping the most useful things in and cut off everything else.

Because there's some stuff that Lite kinda-sorta has but not actually, like RoF.

... which you don't need, so?

>Can someone explain me something?
>Why we are having a discussion how to EXPAND Lite? The whole fucking idea of Lite it being lite. Not blowing it up to make it bigger or more detailed, but keeping the most useful things in and cut off everything else.

bump

Cuz right now RoF mechanics in Lite is incorrect, and if you want to GM with Lite something intresting like "Indiana Jones VS Nazis" instead of another D&D to get new players, you probably met RoF mechanics.
And also it need some advices on how to be GURPS GM.

ATE2 have range band table. Is there some guides about how to play all combats on such "zones"?

If doing it gridless, the easiest would be to say that one move maneuver can put you one range band closer or further from an opponent... that feels a bit oversimplified though, and seems to punish people that invest in high basic move...

might make a system of quick contest where mover's Basic move +10 versus Basic Move +10 of the subject you want to move towards/away from, success allows moving a range band in the direction of your choosing, failure means the opposing subject somehow controls the space in a way that you can't make much progress advancing or falling back.

Note that technically, the +10s in a quick contest are technically a tautology, and if you want, you could skip the +10 to both moves... but I just feel like a QC of Basic Move 5~8 vs 5~8 is probably kinda disappointing in play compared to 15~18 vs 15~18.

I think the simplified bands came from Action, so it might have actual rules.

Mostly I was trying to bump to keep things alive.

I hate unimaginative bumping so I asked a question. I don't know what the other guy is planning but so far my outline is about 50% the page count of the official Lite (closer to 75% once Advs/Disads & Skills are put in). That leaves something like 4 pages at least (and more likely 10+) just to match the current page count.

So what's damned useful beyond the essential stuff? What is missing, if anything, from the outline?

Considering Lite was intentionally and deliberately made to run easy TL3-4 campaigns without magic, I still fail to see your problem.
Then I recall I've run Afgan War campaign (the one with Soviets) using Lite and I don't get your problem even more

Then find a non-retarded way of bumping
>So what's damned useful beyond the essential stuff?
The point is to have ONLY essentials
>What is missing, if anything, from the outline?
Nothing

>If doing it gridless, the easiest would be to say that one move maneuver can put you one range band closer or further from an opponent
I'm feeling it needs narrower progression (but wider than SSR), to be able to move between bands with Move maneuvers. And something like travel time, say, penalty time Move maneuvers.

>Note that technically, the +10s in a quick contest are technically a tautology
I'd say QC of doubled BM. Or even drop it and work with BS, using BM only for travel times. But not quite get about what that QC should do... Retreat/evade/flank?

>I think the simplified bands came from Action, so it might have actual rules.
Action have those bands for chase system and for shooting table, and thats all...

About Lite and RoF.
>In Lite there no Rcl

>The point is to have ONLY essentials
Got it. One vote for lower page count over non-essentials.

How do you feel about alternate simpler rules over more complex default core rules? Simplified range bands vs. SSR table or all the skills vs. wildcards?

If I want to build someone who can wrestle a literal bear, what would I be looking for. Ideally I won't want to go to SM+2 for Bear Hug.

I suppose what I'm asking, is there a perk that lets me count as SM+1 for the purposes of Bear Hug only.

Technical grappling and lots of Lift ST.
Grapple+Lock->Throw

In regards to bullet two, I was going for a more abstract feeling assuming that if someone doesn't want to use grids, they wouldn't mind a bit more abstraction. So, ignoring the fact that moving 20~100 yards in a second is not (usually) reasonable (for humanish characters,) I was thinking of actions taking place in turns of indeterminate length, and therefore something more dynamic could be occurring during this time than what you typically allot for in a GURPS second to the effect of "You tried retreating from the guy after bopping him, but he chased after you, managing to keep up," or similar.

In my head, I asked the question, "if someone doesn't want to use gridded combat, what does that mean?" and the answer I came to was, "they probably want rules that don't require a lot of bookkeeping, figures, or complicated lookups." So I decided to think what might be easy-ish for a GM that wants to avoid cognitive overload for whatever reasons those might be.

I think factoring in the range penalty might be a good idea though, and perhaps doubling basic move like you recommend might be a good idea too, but it would make even a small difference in basic move effect a big advantage. I'm not sure what to think about the range penalty though, because it gets really big on the high end... then again, at 501+ yards, for example, I usually run it in a more cinematic mode myself and not exactly combat time, so maybe, like you say, at 300 yards, for example, as exceptionally quick as it might be, getting to that 21~100 yard zone in 11 seconds might not be too icky, especially if other players/npcs are taking several turn ready/move/aim/evaluate maneuvers as well.

GURPS Pokémon. How would it work?

What part of Pokemon do you have trouble conceiving of in GURPS? What is the mission statement of your game? What do you want players to be able to do, and what do you want them to be able to accomplish through those means?

>What part of Pokemon do you have trouble conceiving of in GURPS?
Training Pokémon! The Basic Set doesn't really provide much detail on Animal Handling (p. 175) and animal training (pp. 458–459). Are there any Pyramid articles that are more expansive? (For example: Realistically, exactly how many commands can an animal learn with IQ 2, 3, or 4?)
Really, I just wanted to bump the thread up from page 9 with a funny image that I found in a speedrun of Pokémon: Gale of Darkness. Don't take it seriously.

>to the effect of
Why not just compare each Move and narrate accordingly? Or, for more accuracy or on the occasions it isn't a chase maybe do something like:

>Short range takes about 4 seconds to cross at Move

Poorly, all things considered, and for a number of reasons. Some of these reasons are GURPS-specific, but most apply to any system used to run a pokemon game.

>There's so much of it to translate, and it ALL needs to be there
There are 600+ pokemon, 700+ moves, 18 types, 6 main attributes, 25 natures, and a whole lot more. Pokemon is not a game with a coherent identity beyond "licensed creatures duke it out," so the more you deviate from established canon, the less like a pokemon game it feels. I can run a campaign inspired by Legend of Zelda without ever directly referencing Link, Zelda, or Gannon, and I can still get the "feel" of a LoZ game, but a pokemon game without Pikachu or Thunderbolt isn't a pokemon game--it's some game about magical creature summoning.

>Pokemon is a series DEFINED by its mechanics
From the four-move limit to everything else, pokemon games are defined less by their themes or even aesthetic and more by how the game mechanically represents them. Vidya mechanics can be as complex as they need to be--after all, it's a computer handling the calculations, and they do so quickly and effectively--but when you bring them to the tabletop and require them to be done at best manually inputted into calculator and it quickly becomes too much. Like I said before, everything needs to be brought over, and this applies to mechanics too. Players normally don't care if my Final Fantasy campaign doesn't include attacks that deal 9999 damage, but if Earthquake isn't the right scale of damage or Barrier doesn't buff them the right amount, it feels fake and hollow.

>GURPS requires extensive work to run shonen games
Violence in GURPS has serious, long-lasting effects. This is a far cry from level 2 Pidgeys "fainting" after getting hit with a Hyperbeam from a level 60 Gyarados.

>GURPS struggles with arbitrary divisions
What separates a level 2 from a level 4? Why can only a few pokemon bite or tackle? How is Flame Thrower different than Fire Wheel?

I feel like, of these arguments, really only the first has weight.


As for the other three, if you are running "GURPS: Monster catching and training" you need to make some compromises and realize that when you are looking at the world of a catchemall game painted with the brush of GURPS (or any other tabletop) it's not going to be the same.

So, GURPS doesn't necessarily play by rules of "wild superfauna with incredible powers are hiding in knee deep grass, waiting to take turns in a game with potentially lethal consequences and muggers and bandits will escort you to the nearest *mon center with a small decrease in your cash if they catch you sneaking around their superscience base with world ending super weapons if you can't beat their mons in a regulated orderly match."

Nothing stops you from running a game like that, but if that's what you want to run and play, why not... just play them on 3ds?

If you are going to play "GURPS: Monster catching and training," you should take what makes the GURPS mechanics good, and combine it with what you want from the licensed setting's worldbuilding.

You could play instead "we are a group of teens who have access to superscience medicine who want to go out on a quest of survival and exploration, flanked on all sides by wonders and terrors, ground breaking science and terrorism," so why would you play, "walk around in the knee deep grass, and every 5 steps I'll roll on the random encounter table?"

(And if it sounds like I'm saying (you) a lot, I don't mean the literal (you,) but the hypothetical (you.))

The other three only work as arguments in conjunction with the first: the more you deviate from established canon, the less like a pokemon game it feels.

I suffered through both playing an running Pokemon:TTA, and that was the impression I was left with: you need to copy everything or else it doesn't feel like pokemon, and if you aren't copying accurately, then you aren't really copying at all. Those two things turned me off the idea of any sort of Pokemon TTRPG ever. However, looking back, it might have been an issue with my group. The literally were having their characters running in circles on the mountaintop trying to grind out a few more levels before the gym.

>GURPS requires extensive work to run shonen games.
>Violence in GURPS has serious, long-lasting effects.

>The more you deviate from established canon, the less like a pokemon game it feels.

I feel the need to point out that at least one Pokémon fanfiction story appears to have gotten some mileage out of a simulationist (or "rational", if you're one of those Yudkowsky-fanboy memers) take on the setting: fanfiction.net/s/9794740
(I haven't actually read it, and speak only from hearsay.)

Just do the anime/manga instead, then. Use the body type metatraits to speed up your work a lot, don't use the lasting or permanent crippling rules, and everything faints at -5xHP instead of die. Done.

>Violence in GURPS has serious, long-lasting effects.
Cruel trainer VS kind trainer is one of themes in pokemon (Threat pikachu as friend, but charizard only as battle monster, srsly?).
Plus you always can say pokeball can heal 10 HP/day to contained pokemon, and treat crippling inj in med centers, which probably can be found near colosseums.

This, plus I some dude did up a bunch of pokemon abilities (in spirit rather than direct translation, like a lot just do FP damage in the first place or give a condition of some kind) on his blog. They're structured like Sorcery spells if I remember correctly, which means pokemon abilities slowly eats away at their FP (kinda cool, simulates them getting tired and worn out using their specials).

Also it would be easy enough to give each pokemon Modular Abilities with limited slots (4) and the time taken to reassign abilities requires time with the trainer, plus maybe a successful IQ roll required as another limitation (once achieved, they can swap out) to indicate it has learned from the training successfully.

Then as the pokemon "levels up" i.e. gains character points, they can pay to expand the value on their Modular Ability to enable more powerful slots and what have you, or buy "regular" advantages like extra Will, HP, High Pain Tolerance, etc. and even buy off certain mental disadvantages, to represent you training them out of bad habits or helping them overcome their weaknesses/fears.

Or Sorcery, (but with Biological or whatever instead of Magical as the default power modifier) whatever works. There are other ways but those are the first best that spring to mind.

Forgot to mention; then, just buy each Pokemon as an Ally, Patron or Dependent (depending on their array of powers, point totals, and role in the story).

Also probably Wildcard skills for trainers. Maybe Dungeon Fantasy Wilderness Adventures and/or After the End solely for the exploration, travel, food, wilderness hazards/weather, fatigue etc. rules.

(if you want to get that crunchy with it, anyway; it's also easy just to handwave, ignore, and roll-and-shout all that stuff away if you prefer; season to taste, and all that)

I was prowling a blog I frequent and came across an ability I'm curious as to how to stat up in gurps. The ability is called Dramatic Infiltration; basically lets you disappear, then at any point during a later scene declare yourself to be one of the NPCs present and go from there. My initial thought is a combination of Serendipity with the Cosmic modifier and disguise based Warp perhaps. Any thoughts?

If I were doing this in action game I would just do the same thing they did for hiding at the middle of combat. Which is rolling Stealth at -10 penalty (or even more if there is nowhere to hide)
-10 is basically reserved for things that are typically impossible to do on purpose, but still can happen as some bizarre coincidence.
Disguise (or perhaps Acting, whichever is lower) at -10 sounds like reasonable modifier for attempt to instantly appear as someone else with no preparation.
That's assuming this ability is just a part of toolbox of incredibly talented spy. Otherwise I'd just use Serendipity. Warp's main purpose is teleportation. Unless character can swap themselves with guards outside the cage for example, I wouldn't add Warp.

The context of the ability was for a doppleganger 'class'. I would probably use this only for a cinematic game but this was more of a thought exercise. -10 modifier sounds appropriate. My thought with Warp was justifying the character just appearing like that, although I guess Serendipity also covers that.If stating it as an advantage perhaps Serendipity with cosmic and requires a Disguise roll.

Can someone recommend me a free voice changer for MAC? Players seem to like it when they find recorded messages in my games, but I wanted to surprise them with a voice changer. Preferably one that isn't a trail time.

Does anyone know how to figure how many rolls it will take for a success from a certain level? I thought I saw an article or table in a book but I can't find it.

You can calculate it from B, 171

Does it work that way? A 16 has about a 98% chance of success so 1 out of 50 fails. Does that mean the 50th or somewhere between 1 and 50? Isn't it more and more likely to fail the more you roll until it's virtually certain?

If you flip a coin you have 50% to get heads and 50% to get tails. But you can't say if you flip a con 100 time you have 50 tails and 50 heads. You can only predict there probably should be close that much.
So say if you have SK-16 and roll 100 times you can fail more than 2 times in that sequence, or don't fail at all. If you want to have guarantees of fail in sequence you need to use pseudorandom generators, not random generators.

We stumbled around with Cyberpunk game, but have some troubles with "Hacker can hack anything cuz Wi-Fi"-thing
Any advices?